Thanks everyone!

Lewie,
I'll look up Epson lotion, as I know nothing about it.

St George,
I may be able to change g.p.'s under our plan, but I really don't think any dr. on my plan will be any better. I maybe wrong. I had a g.p. for most of my adult life that I think is one of the best there is. When we lost our insurance we lost him as well. To be honest, he was my dr. when I first came down with my problems and I could tell he really didn't know what to do about it.

MrsD
Thanks for all the suggestions. To answer you questions...
I have not tried ice on my lubar and sacral areas, but I will this evening and let you know.

I don't really have any swelling or discoloration on my skin. If you look real close, my skin is slighty lighter in the area of my feet and legs that get submersed in ice water. Kind of a faint tan line as if I wore shoes and socks with shorts. Looking at my legs right now, I dont see any difference and I soaked them about 2 hours ago.

My pain does not move. It's concentrated in my feet and legs. I can't wear underwear because if bothers me on my waist, but otherwise, no. I have tingling in my right arm occasionally, but I think I have had that sensation before p.n. Probably an old baseall injury from throwing out my arm over my younger years.

I will try foregoing a shower this weekend as well.

I thought I had my gp appt. this morning, but its Friday am.

I once stepped on a sea urchin about ten years ago while surfing. My foot swelled like balloon and was totally numb from venom. By the time I drove back to my town to see my dr., it hurt a LOT. My dr. said the spine had broke off in my foot and I should go to the hospital for removal. I asked him to just do it at his office and he agreed. He warned me it was going to be the worst pain I ever felt. He was right. The urchin spine kept breaking off whenever he tried to pull it out and he had to dig deeper and deeper into the bottom of my foot. He would shoot a needle full of something into the hole each time and THAT really hurt. When he was done, he said he never saw anyone able to handle that much pain. It turned out the urchin spine traveled from the bottom of my foot to about 1/4 inch from the top of my foot. He had to cram his tweezers (or whatever drs have) all the way up a tiny hole thru my foot to the top.

The reason I tell this story is because my wife brought it up recently. She said that I was probably enduring more pain than I really should. She said to get tough with the dr and get some relief because no one should endure extreme pain everyday and eventually it will change me. Of course, she's right and no sooner had she said this, I had the three incidents mentioned earlier when I snapped.

I know everyone on this board has experienced awful pain and I am in no way discounting that. Pain sucks and that's why we are all here.

I've tried to ignore my condition and go thru the day with a smile, but I'm not smiling anymore. I'll post back after drs. appt.